Headwaters Music + Arts Festival

The Headwaters Music + Arts Festival is a free celebration of music, art and community, welcoming musicians to perform on front stoops and festival goers to indulge in art activities along Stamford New York’s Main Street.

Hosted by the Roxbury Arts Group, participation in The Headwaters Music + Arts Festival is free to attend.

We’re kicking off the Headwaters Music + Arts Festival with a Night Photography Workshop for Beginners led by Matt Hill on Friday, July 28. Participants will tackle the fundamentals of night photography during this hands-on workshop, such as:

• stability
• focusing
• composing
• exposure
• making star point photos
• how to capture star trails (weather permitting)

The workshop begins with a twilight lecture in a field on the Cowbella Farm that will cover the basics of night photography. Following the discussion, participants will put what they learn into practice as they begin working with their cameras.

This workshop is being offered for free. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Click here for complete details and registration information.

On Saturday, July 29, more than 20 musical acts will be performing along Stamford historical Main Street. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience a cornucopia of live music and all the best that Stamford businesses have to offer. Musicians and bands performing between 3 – 6p include: 13 for Life, Wyatt Ambrose, Karen Anderson, Belle Cats, Frederick Chrislip, Bill Farrish & Dan Sales, Mike Herman, Remy Kane, Jim Kopp + Doug Decker + Bobby Curious, Lord McGeorge, Katherine McCarty, Gian Michael, Moppy, Dave Remes, Joe Rossi, The Sawtelles, Sue’s Garage, Those Darn Cats, and Azalea Twining.

Nature Photo Walks

Matt Hill will lead two Photo Walks, one along the Stamford Rail Trail with a focus on Nature and one through the festival with a focus on Portraits. Photo Walks are walking tours for photographers for varying abilities looking to find inspiration, hone their skills, learn new ideas, and experience different places through your camera’s viewfinder.

The Nature Photo Walk is on Saturday, July 29 from 1:30 – 3p and will start at Veterans Memorial Park. The Portrait Photo Walk, focusing on capturing unpredictable portraits that blend blurred motion and crisp features using flash and long shutter speeds, is on Saturday, July 29 from 4 – 5:30p and will also start in Veterans Memorial Park. Participation in the Photowalks are free – just bring a camera!

Catskill Mountain Speak-Out House

Community members are invited to visit the Catskill Mountain Speak-Out House, a modular sound booth that provides a private space amidst the festivities for folks to record their reflections about life in the Northern Catskills. Prompts will be provided to inspire and guide your storytelling journey. The collected recordings will be added to the Living Archive, a project of Roxbury Arts Group in collaboration with Delhi-based multimedia artist Christina Hunt Wood. 

Local Celebrity Coloring Pages

Located outside the Catskill Mountain Speak-Out House, attendees will be able to find an activity table where kids and adults alike can color illustrations of and learn more about our neighbors in the local communities.

Cyanotype Create Sun Station

Guests are invited to create fascinating white-on-blue photographic prints, called cyanotypes, using flat objects on the sun-sensitive paper that is exposed to the sun. All of these activities are free and located in Stamford’s Veterans Memorial Park, at the intersection of Main Street and Railroad Avenue.

The Headwaters Music + Arts Festival is sponsored by Margaretville Telephone Company. All programs offered by the Roxbury Arts Group are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the NYS Legislature, the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation, the A. Lindsay & Olive B. O’Connor Foundation, the Tianaderrah Foundation, Loving Live, Inc, the Delaware National Bank of Delhi, and by the generosity of business sponsors and individual donors like you.

Interested in hosting a musician? Host Forms are can be filled out here,